Hart Travel Partners (HTP) provides fully customized, faculty-led short-term travel programs. Founded by Steve Hart, a lifelong travel professional with over 25 years experience, HTP allows university and college faculty, administrators and educators from all over the United States to turn the world into a global classroom focused on achieving academic and enrichment goals.

Steve Hart, Founder

A true citizen of the world, Steve has transformed his unique life experience and passion for travel into a successful career in educational travel. Born in Germany to a Spanish mother and English father, he spent his childhood in Bahrain, Kenya, England, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. He attended Bristol University in England, where he studied Spanish and Portuguese and led groups of students on educational programs through Spain and Portugal during school breaks.

Upon graduation, he led groups abroad most of the year, while taking time for his own travel adventures with family and friends, including motor biking throughout the United States, cycling along the Camino de Santiago and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Along the way, he made his mark at various educational travel companies, managing sales, marketing, operations and product development. Over 20 years and hundreds of successful tours later, Steve realized his dream of creating a travel company with a tight focus on academic content and cultural enrichment with the founding of Hart Travel Partners.

Steve has made his home just southwest of Boston, MA. His two beautiful children of course, have their own little suitcases!

Eva Luther, Director of Global Operations

Eva is responsible for all the flights, accommodations, travel directors, local transport, meals and millions of other details, large and small, that make up a fantastic travel program. She brings over 20 years of experience working in all aspects of educational travel, hospitality and the airline industry, as well as a dedication to service driven by her commitment to helping others get out and explore the world.

Her love of travel developed early on, as she spent most summers in Germany with her grandmother. She later went on to study abroad in Strasbourg, France. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international hospitality and tourism management from Schiller International University.

She recently had the joy of sharing her childhood memories of Germany with her boys during their first trip to Europe. Like their mother, they are already planning the next trip!

Raffaella Golinucci, Travel Director

For over 16 years, Raffaella has been organizing and leading travel programs for colleges and universities, business groups, choirs, orchestras and even professional rock bands. Originally from Cesena in Northeast Italy, Raffaella now frequently travels between Italy and her adopted home in London.

Following her degree in English language and literature from the University of Bologna and a masters in marketing management for the travel and tourism business, she began her career in tour managing and operations. This has given her the opportunity to travel extensively across Europe and the United States while working with a large variety of clients and educational travel groups.

Raffaella loves her job and looks forward to sharing her passion for Italy with you!

Jasmina Dvorsek, Travel Director

Jasmina Dvorsek, a travel director from Slovenia, was destined to be a traveler! Her father was a tour guide and she grew up listening to the stories of his travel adventures. She also frequently visited her family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jasmina started working as a guide in 1996, while still a student, focusing on history and journalism. Both her career as a journalist and as a travel director have given her opportunities to travel the world extensively but Slovenia, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe are still the destinations she holds most dear. She currently lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Richard Bowen, Travel Director

Richard has two decades of experience in tourism and quite frequently works with institutional travel organizations, such as museums and church organizations, and students from the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada. As a result, he spends much of his time traveling all over Europe. He brings this cosmopolitan and pan-European experience to bear on his work with HTP, constantly making connections to other cities and countries in the course of his travel programs.

Originally from England, Richard Bowen has lived in Rome for over 20 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in humanities from Middlesex University, and a master's degree in medieval and twentieth-century history from University College London.

Daniel Rivero, Travel Director

"I believe that I began to travel even before I learned how to write. Ever since I was little, maybe 5 years old, I used to sit facing the ocean and I would stay there looking and wondering what might be out there beyond what my view could reach . . . and knowing that someday I would discover it."

It was in Spain that Daniel had the opportunity to convert his passion into a profession, working as a tour director, with both Americans on the peninsula and Spaniards on the rest of the continent. With Spain as a trampoline, he headed toward the rest of the European countries.

After more than a decade of hotels, museums, theaters, streets, and plazas he felt prepared to make the jump towards Africa. He has guided hundreds of travelers through the safari routes of South Africa, taking care of the logistics and all that traveling through such a grand continent entails.

"I have crossed through deserts, rivers, waterfalls, new towns, cities, and tribes during several years and always with the same feeling of that first time, leaving a host of memories, friendships and the warmth of all the magnificent people that I have met along this marvelous adventure."

Jay Borkland, Academic Advisor

Jay is a geophycisist with a passion for underwater exploration and adventure. He is also a Senior Lecturer on the faculty of Northeastern University, College of Professional Studies. He teaches courses on Environmental Studies, Geology, Oceanography and Geophysics. His academic research and interests include Archaeology, History, Marine Studies, Earth Science, Natural Resources, Ecology and Geophysics. Jay has traveled around the world and believes in the transformative nature of travel.

Roger Hart, Global Security Advisor

Born in London, Roger joined the British Diplomatic Service after studying modern languages at the University of Birmingham, England. He has served as the British Ambassador to Peru, Angola and Sao Tomé & Principe, and Consul General in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. He was decorated by HM The Queen in 1997 for services to British diplomacy.

Both Roger and his wife, Angeles, love to travel. In the course of their diplomatic career, they worked in ten countries and have visited over 80. Roger is a life-long fan of the London soccer club, Arsenal, and in the US he has a soft spot for the Pittsburg Penguins. Now they divide their time between homes in London and Madrid, together with regular visits to their two sons and four grandchildren in Boston.

Robin Clapp, Web Designer

Robin is a freelance website designer based in the Boston area. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Computer Engineering she worked as a hardware/software engineer at General Dynamics for 13 years. With a passion for coding that began in elementary school and an entrepreneurially family background she started her own web design business in 2007.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING...

"What a treat to have our own personal guide to the Aran Islands. Seeing the islands from an archeological perspective was eye opening and enriched the students' understanding of what they were experiencing." - Lane C